A message from President Sandra Turner PHF
Sandra Turner RC Canberra President 2021-22
Hello, Rotarians friends and visitors. It's continued to be a busy time since coming in as President of the Club last July. I only have a few more weeks in the role now and the time has really flown by. In August last year and only five weeks into the role, we were forced into lockdown again because of COVID-19 and even though we are now allowed to move around mostly with the freedoms of old, the pandemic is nowhere near gone.
My first priority in lockdown was making sure that our members remained in contact with each other during this difficult period. Before my term commenced, I resurrected the Bulletin newsletter for members and friends and it has been a significant source of contribution and communication for people.
During the lockdown period, we also saw many members engage regularly through Zoom meetings each Monday evening and sometimes at lunchtime to keep people up to date, provide some excellent guest speakers and to just have some general fellowship which everybody has enjoyed. I have added a monthly Zoom meeting to our calendar to keep those unable to attend in person, in the Rotary loop as well and we are seeing good support for this initiative.
Sadly, some of our fundraising efforts have had to be curtailed or delayed this past year during or because of the pandemic. We are now in a situation where we can reasonably confidently plan ahead and we are continuing to look for ways that we can support our community and beyond.
I’m pleased that we were able to hold a District 9705 International Women’s Day event on 8th March and our Guest Speaker, Paralympian Gold Medallist Vanessa Low, inspired all. It was a planned District activity with a number of regional event held simultaneously. We have some lessons learned from the first event and I look forward to the next IWD in 2023. We hope this event will grow each year and include Rotarians and non-Rotarians and become a regular event on our calendar.
As the end of the Rotary year beckons, it’s a time to review everything that has happened in the last year and I look forward to summarising that with you at our Changeover Dinner on 1st July 2022.
Thank you all for your support this year and I look forward to supporting President Chris when he takes over the reins in July. I'm sure you will show him the same grace, respect and friendship that I have received throughout this year. It has been a pleasure to serve as your President.